A Chicago woman accused of stealing a police vehicle while naked and on camera and dragging an officer has been acquitted.
Whitley Temple, 35, was acquitted of all charges Wednesday after a judge accepted her insanity defense.
Cook County Judge Tyria Walton acquitted him of one count of attempted murder and also found him not guilty by reason of insanity of two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle, local station WBBM-TV reported.
Temple remains free but must appear in court to meet with mental health officials to discuss a treatment plan, the outlet said.
Temple is accused of stealing a patrol car and dragging an officer who found him lying naked in the street in West Garfield Park on June 13, 2022, police said.
Chicago Police Officer Edward Popish responded to a report of shots fired in the area that morning and found Temple.
When he got out of his patrol car to find out what she was doing, Temple attacked the officer and drove off, Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown said at the time. FOX 32 Chicago.
Video of the incident was circulated on social media and resurfaced after Temple was acquitted.
The video shows the officer struggling with the woman in the driver’s seat of the SUV he was on patrol with, causing the officer to fall out the unlocked front door as the woman puts the car in reverse.
The SUV dragged the officer for a short while, causing the driver to back up and the officer to leave the vehicle.
Officer Popish can be seen kneeling as the police SUV drives away with the door ajar.
Temple was later arrested after driving his patrol car at speeds of up to 90 mph on the Kennedy Expressway and crashing into four vehicles at the intersection of Harrison and Damen streets in the Illinois Medical District near West Illinois, WBBM-TV reported.
Popish, a 23-year veteran of the police force, was hospitalized and required stitches for a head injury.
Temple’s lawyers argued she had been in a “psychotic state” and had worried family and friends in the days leading up to the incident.
She had “delusional beliefs” that people were following her and trying to kill the women in her family, her lawyer said, according to WBBM.
The lawyer also said Temple believed she had been sexually assaulted prior to the incident.
